Inside The Sugar Glider Cage Nesting Boxes Sugar gliders are nocturnal and need a place to curl up and go to sleep during the day. A nesting box will provide your pet with a hiding place where it can feel safe and protected while it slumbers. Nesting boxes can be made out of wood, wicker, or plastic. Alternatively, a cloth pouch with a slit in the front can be tied to the side of the cage as a sleeping bag. Gliders like to “move house” occasionally and so it is a good idea to provide several types of nesting boxes in the same cage. A wooden birdhouse makes an ideal bedroom, as does a plastic hamster house or a rubber storage container that has an entrance hole and ventilation holes cut in it. The entrance hole should be no smaller than 1 ½ inches (3.75 cm) in diameter. Female gliders that have large babies in their pouch, or youngsters clinging to their back or underside, will find it difficult to get in and out if the hole is any smaller. If the nesting box is for a breeding pair, it is advantageous if the entrance hole is high up on one of the sides or in the lid so that the babies cannot inadvertently fall out. Nesting boxes that have removable or hinged lids are best because they provide better access to sleeping pets and are easier to clean. The nesting box should be placed as high up in the cage as possible because sugar gliders do not feel secure sleeping near the floor. Bedding Sugar gliders will quite often happily sleep in nesting boxes or sleeping bags that contain no bedding. However, you can add plain shredded paper or pine or aspen wood shavings. Aspen is preferable to pine because it does not contain volatile resins or other terpenoids. Alternatively, a piece of cloth or a sock can be provided for the glider to curl up in. Wood shavings or plain paper can also be used in the bottom of the cage to catch or absorb moisture from the urine, droppings, and fruit that has fallen from the dishes. Don’t use newspaper or magazine paper because it may contain harmful dyes and chemicals. Do not use cedar shavings or make nesting boxes out of cedar. Cedar contains volatile compounds that are harmful and can cause respiratory problems to some animals. In rare instances, a sugar glider may try to consume inedible bedding. This behavior is most often seen ion young gliders that are given bedding materials that they are not familiar with. They attempt to eat the substance out of inexperience. However, consumption of inedible material can also be a sign of nutritional deficiency. If your sugar glider appears to be eating its bedding or shavings from the bottom of the cage, remove the substance immediately because the glider’s digestive system may become impacted by these materials. It will be necessary to find alternative bedding and cage floor material. For example, paper towels can be used instead of wood shavings. Litter Box Sugar gliders will not use a litter box. They can not be house trained. However, they are quite clean animals that usually avoid soiling their nesting box. They do not produce copious amounts of stools and urine. Stools are like those of a mouse and quickly dry to a hard pellet. They usually urinate while on the wire or on the branches in their cage. To avoid having your glider urinate or defecate on you when you take it out, gently brush the area at the base of the tail with a piece of toilet tissue. This will stimulate the glider to soil the toilet tissue rather than you or your furnishings.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Jul 2013 16:14:00 +0000
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